My face is scrunched up in concentration as Hosseini describes this hearty encounter of two central characters in the book.Mariam and Laila;whose relationship is carefully woven in Kabul, inter-twined with rich Afghanistan culture and magnetized by the political system which is in a state of flux .

Hosseini gently strokes the audience by inviting us to traverse along the arduous journey travelled by hearts of these two Afghan women.

Mariam is born as a harami(illegitimate child) and blames her mother (Nana) for her constant of depression.Her father ,Jalil is her twinkle in his loving eye .This the storyline not long before he reciprocates his fatherhood by marrying her off to Rasheed.

At first glance,Rasheed strikes as a gentleman of course.But “savage”is what punctuates him ,not only as a husband but also as a man.Human and kind;both-are everything Rasheed is far from.Lucky for him ,he marries a second wife, Laila.

This comes after the political distress in Afghanistan that robs Laila of her family and her true love ,Tariq.She finds solace in Rasheed’s house and engages in wife rivalry with Mariam.It sounds like it is straight out of a tele-novela,well ;until Hosseini plays the next tune, this time pulling the heart-strings of the audience a notch higher as various changes transpire.

Laila,Raheed’s precious gem is severely is punished by him for bearing him a daughter,Aziza.Things take a turn for the worse.Kabul, is further plagued by political insurgence by the Taliban forces and it is also during that period that the Laila and Mariam find love in such a hopeless state.Love so sincere and yet so divergent.Laila finally bears a son for Mariam but the savage in him is rebirthed.To salvage the situation, is the collaborative effort of these central characters as they put an end to all the trouble he stirred up and this leaves Rasheed lying six feet under.

A ray of hope emerges as Tariq reappears and picks up where he and Laila left off.Mariam enjoys her much-sought after freedom in her sanctuary behind bars.Many questions arise in the end ,with just a few answers .

In a nutshell, this is what i have learnt;

Who can keep a secret really?

Tell your secret to the wind ,but don’t blame it for telling the trees.